Welcome to the luxury western. It’s in Texas that the lord has set down his suitcases, or how to mess up a leather goods show with panache. So, fasten your seatbelts (made of cowhide vaguely tanned with plastic), because the “made in USA” luxury rodeo is in full collapse. The famous luxury house, apparently the empire of French refinement, had decided to plant its golden pumps… in the heart of the state near the Rio Grande. The result? A factory that looks more like a Monty Python sketch than a high-end craft workshop.
A “significantly insufficient performance,” the man from Toledo is said to have said. Translation: it’s a disaster. Apparently, there’s a shortage of talented leather craftsmen… Who would have thought it? Offering $17 an hour to make bags worth 3,000 quid, without requiring any experience, what a brilliant strategy! It’s like asking a teenager watching “Road Bull” to build a cathedral.
And what’s more, it took them years to learn how to sew a pocket. A pocket! Not a damp squib like Musk, not just a pocket! And meanwhile, the leather waste rate reaches 40%, twice the norm. When the bag is ugly and poorly made? Hey presto, it’s incinerated. Literally burned in a huge fire of shame, or sold to Mexican migrants as a counterfeit. “No, I’m just kidding.” Continue reading
Attention, overworked New Yorkers, dehydrated models, and globe-trotting CEOs in desperate need of spiritual realignment: your salvation has arrived. And it smells like lavender hand-picked by aromatherapy-certified elves. This summer, Guerlain is gracing us with the grand opening of its largest spa ever inside the legendary (and recently zhuzhed-up) Waldorf Astoria New York. Yes, you read that right: a 30,000-square-foot wellness cathedral dedicated to inner glow, outer glow, and deep post-brunch hydration.
We know L.V as the luxury behemoth, capable of absorbing houses like a trophy collector. But this time, while everyone was waiting for The lord to pull off another coup, it was Prada that stole the show by buying Versace for the modest sum of 1.25 billion euros. A deal conducted with the finesse of a Milanese tailor, while LV, perhaps distracted by a vineyard acquisition or yet another flagship store on the Champs-Elysées, looked elsewhere.
Breaking news in the fashion world: Alexandre Vauthier, the maestro of glamour, has slammed the door on his own couture house! Just seven months after Revolve, the Californian online shopping giant, got its hands on his brand, the designer decided he’d had enough. Clearly, art and algorithms don’t mix well.
After raking in $4 billion with Skims (no big surprise), Kim Kardashian decided to relaunch her beauty empire because, of course, world domination wouldn’t be complete without a little contouring and a signature scent.
Chanel recruits friends of friends, and Matthieu Blazy is no exception. Freshly arrived as Chanel’s artistic director on April 1 (I thought it was an April fool’s joke?), he is already starting to set up his little kingdom. And as in any good fashion monarchy, you don’t choose your allies at random.
Not content with just your bag or wallet, the brand is now taking over your living room, too. From the iconic Louis Vuitton 1885 Bed Trunk (because who doesn’t need a fancy trunk to sleep on?) to the Hemingway Library Trunk designed by Gaston-Louis Vuitton in 1927 (because Ernest Hemingway obviously needed a portable library for his really long trips), the French luxury brand has been cozying up to the design world for quite some time. And now, they’re ready to turn your home into a monument to expensive taste.
It’s always the same story with the ‘Boring Karda’; a story as old as her own reflection in her vanity mirror. So there she is, decked out in sparkles worthy of a Mughal treasure (Mongolian suits her so well), criss-crossing Mumbai like an Instagram maharani to attend the wedding of a billionaire who pays the guests at the height of the Bimbo’s hips. Suddenly, disaster! A diamond vanishes into the crowd, and there she is in panic, what a tragedy! What a tragedy! Don’t diamonds last forever?
British tennis player Jack Draper has gone from being a friend of Burberry to an official member of its global family. In short, he’s moved from the couch to the living room.
Forget glass skin, the fad of yesteryear that made women’s faces look like freshly polished windscreens. Now it’s time for ‘butter skin’. an innovative concept that combines glamour with the essential need to look delicately buttery at any time of day.
Unfortunately, these monarchs in patent leather shoes don’t stop there. If your murderous pen bothers them, they’ll attack the most precious thing you have: your children. Yes, these virtuous merchants of dreams are turning into modern-day inquisitors, blacklisting your descendants from all the headhunting agencies and companies in their group. Guilty by descent, heretics by birth, condemned to professional exile even before their first CV.
The rotor vibrates and its shudder, like a steel wing, beckons you to travel, and already the wind is caressing the cabin with the warm breath of early spring. The ground fades away in a whisper, leaving the weight of everyday life to crumble away. The helicopter rises, a sylph of the air, a mechanical bird gliding towards the immense blue, towards the eternity of an endless sky as far as the forest of Brocéliande.
The ‘Tonneau’ bag is a leather goods classic, and an iconic piece that captivates with its elongated, cylindrical shape. Its design is both chic and practical, making it a coveted accessory for fashion lovers and leading luxury brands.
Luxury in China: When Brands Step Down from Their Pedestal (But with Style). Once upon a time, luxury in China was a playground for capricious billionaires and eager nouveau riche, ready to raid a Chanel boutique like others fill their shopping carts at Lidl on discount day. But that was before. Today, in times of austerity and economic restrictions, major fashion houses have had to readjust their strategy. Gone are the diamond feasts and private fashion shows that looked like G7 summits now it’s all about democratizing glamour!
Earthquake at Loewe: Proenza Schouler arrives, Anderson evaporates and Dior trembles. Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, the turbulent brains behind Proenza Schouler, are taking over the reins at Loewe. Yes, you read that right. The New York duo, accustomed to graphic cuts and asymmetric jackets that raise bankers’ eyebrows, are set to inject a dose of Brooklyn into the century-old Spanish fashion house.
Get ready, because this season, your glasses will no longer be mere accessories, but true fashion shields! Forget the discretion of tiny frames and barely visible lenses. In 2025, elegance is measured in square centimeters!
Paris, city of light and capital of fashion, is now the scene of a Fashion Week that has been reduced to a champagne cork. Forget the monumental catwalks, the quivering crowds and the pharaonic happenings. This season, the designers decided to play hide-and-seek with the guests, stashing their collections in pocket lounges, shoeboxes and, at this rate, soon in an AirBnB in the Marais.
A fashion prodigy who must have woken up one day and said to himself: ‘What if I made fashion into a vast playground where nothing makes sense any more, but everyone applauds?’
Never has the LVMH Prize shone a light on undeniable talents designers capable of bringing a singular vision to the fashion industry. Today, it seems that this award has become nothing more than a marketing springboard for self-proclaimed creators, where craftsmanship takes a backseat and concept prevails over couture. The selection of the Berlin-based duo Ottolinger is a case in point a brand determined to prove that banality can be labeled as “avant-garde,” as long as it is wrapped in a pretentious rhetoric not of Ariadne’s thread, but of Buzz.